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The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development brings together major academic fields concerned with creating strong communities, in Canada and around the world. The four highly respected units that have come together to form SEDRD share many common goals but approach them in different and complimentary ways. This model reflects the imperatives in building authentic communities where planners, leaders, communicators, landscape architects, the citizens and politicians all play important interdependent roles in community strength.

Research conducted within the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development reflects the diversity of our programs and the diversity of our faculty and students. Research spans the Canadian and International context and makes important contributions to society and our respective professions focused on Landscape Architecture, Rural Planning and Development, Capacity Development and Extension and Rural Studies. It is often focused at the community level - rural and urban, and tends to be very practical in its application.

For students, staff and faculty who call SEDRD “home”, I believe we all think of it as our community. It is evident in the interactions between faculty and students, in the collegiality amongst students, in the friendly and helpful approach of staff and in the positive environment that we try to create within studio or within the classroom.

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The Ontario Agricultural College

The School of Environmental Design & Rural Development (SEDRD) is a unit within the Ontario Agriculture College (OAC). Established in 1874, OAC is a founding college of the University of Guelph, ranked as Canada's top comprehensive research university. OAC is Canada's largest and most comprehensive institution for education, research and extension service in agriculture, food, the environment, and rural communities in Canada and around the world.